Female Factor_ Women and Workplace Sovereignty
  • Making women safe to do the best stories covering gender-based violence – Norway
  • Examining the extent and scope of sexual harassment in Cameroonian newsrooms
  • Strategies for achieving gender equality in Iraq-Kurdistan media organizations
  • Digital safety of journalists in Kenya
  • Workplace strategies for women in South African film
  • #Metoo Nepal for media students & improving women’s representation on media 
  • Uganda creating a pool of Gender Mainstreaming Ambassadors.
  • Sexual harassment prevention in the Indian film industry

The Gender Mainstreaming Project (GMP) supported by FOKUS and UNESCO-Norway, is the largest activity conducted by IAWRT in 2018 and into 2019.  details here. A new handbook on best practices for fully integrating gender perspectives into media policy – focusing on southern and eastern Africa and India – will be released in 2019. Locally tailored workshops, training, demonstrating and assessing best practices were run by chapters around the world in 2018. 

 

Uganda

Re Discover to Re Impose – Building a Sustainable Pool of Gender Mainstreaming Ambassadors by Nankwanga Eunice Kasirye

 

Building a lasting pool of gender mainstreaming ambassadors through mentorship. requires re discovering one’s potential to re impose for opportunities to create a gender-fair environment in newsrooms and on the media. The Re discover to Re impose gender mainstreaming workshop n Kampala in Dec 2018 introduced the pioneer ambassadors to gender as a concept in the media, as well as the legal perspective.

 

The undesirable trends in media research statistics – where only 20% of Ugandan women were quoted as news sources in election stories and only 28% of Ugandan women were news subjects – mostly lighter topics – prompted IAWRT Uganda to engage with news editors and senior journalists about gender mainstreaming in the newsroom.

 

That gave birth to the IAWRT-Uganda’s Re discover to Re impose, mentorship of gender mainstreaming ambassadors. A pioneer group of ten mentors and twenty mentees will champion the gender cause in the media.

 

Through mentorship, media practitioners, especially women, get back to the drawing board and re-evaluate their potentials and weakness, identify their opportunities and the threats that lie ahead in their career struggles. Women then moving into the space of positive impact or opportunities, or positions of power and authority can reduce the negative portrayal of women in the media.

 

Prof. Maggie Kigozi, the patron of the IAWRT Uganda chapter, challenged the female journalists to work together and support each other, to build credible networks and determine to look out for female achievers to put their stories in the limelight.

 

Uganda’s first Professor of Journalism, Nassnga Gorreti, of Makerere University, says IAWRT mentorship should be able to improve the positive portrayal of women in the media, the number of women in decision making positions within media houses and open up opportunities for career excellence.

 

Caroline Idembe, a human rights lawyer, explained the need to understand legal redresses and its limitations, in order to gain job positions that matter. She says the UN agenda 2030, which calls on government funds to be spent for gender equity and women’s rights, needs to be fully monitored by a media which is well skilled and equipped with the legal and policy frameworks. 

IAWRT-Uganda’s intention is to ensure that the pioneer ambassadors become well versed with these concepts in order to become trainers of trainers. We want the pioneer team to form a well informed force in the media which can be used for reference. We require continuous in-depth training on the same for our ambassadors to light the candles whereever they work or operate from.

click for extended report.

 

South Africa

Female Factor: Women and Workplace Sovereignty – Success Strategies for women in the field, on sets, online, in radio and in newsrooms by Makganwana Mokgalong

 

The South African chapter’s focus with the GMP has always been to simplify things: To make it all about what the everyday woman working in media can grasp and apply in their day to day roles. So in early December, at Sonke Gender Justice we held an all-day dynamic workshop for a primary target audience of young women and other established practitioners. Katlego Nakedi a feminine empowerment coach led a powerful session of raising personal awareness around fear and how women can transcend their fear in order to master their expression. She shared tools and practices that women can use to resolve their fear and stand for themselves in the workplace and in life.

 

Zoe Ramushu a legal consultant, activist and producer and representative of www.swiftsa.org.za, shared the work that Sisters Working in Television and Film (SWIFT) is doing for women in TV and film. They’re doing research around harassment and sexual abuse in the industry. This research is key in calling for protective measures for women on sets. Zoe made the women aware that they can call a SWIFT representative who can help them file a case and offer support by following up to see that the perpetrator is brought to book. SWIFT is also working on industry guidelines to make safety officers mandatory on sets.

 

Some participants had trauma from abuse and a sense of powerlessness in an environment where disciplinary measures for perpetrators aren’t as stringent as they are in traditional work environments. However, the learning demonstrated how women can find power in the moment of abuse to stand up, speak out and push back when it is safe to do so. Some of the women reported that they now see how they could have better handled some of the abusive situations they’ve had to endure.

 

I am a screenwriter by trade, and my session showed two films to open up a discussion around characters, story and language. They were from the South African National Film and Video Foundation, Female Filmmaker Slate – A Groom’s Price and Ganesh Falling – very different works that illustrate that the female story isn’t as monolithic as mainstream film makes it out to be, that women from different backgrounds can have different narratives.

 

We focused on creating awareness around diversity and not trying to compress women’s stories into one story. What also became stark was how women bring their oppression into their craft, not from an enlightened perspective but from past trauma. What came out of this session was an affirmation that all stories are valid and agreement that how we want to be seen and heard as women is not perpetuating what continuously disempowers us. Click for full story.

 

Norway

“Many of the best stories covering gender-based violence are done by women journalists, However, women journalist themselves face safety threats that can risk their numbers in the journalistic field” by Kristine Ramm, Norway

 

Abeer Saady, the Vice President of IAWRT says this often in her training workshops, as she did in Olso in early November.  As a part of the Gender Mainstreaming Project (GMP), Saady, from Egypt, gave a workshop at the OsloMet University in early November. 

 

Abeer is one of IAWRT’s sparkling jewels, and a big asset to our organisation. She travels the word giving safety training workshops of different durations, often without getting paid, always promoting IAWRTs name. Her skill as a media consultant and safety trainer is widely recognized and appreciated. She shares from her own experience as a war correspondent with 28 years of professional experience in covering conflict zones within the Middle East, Africa and Asia. This time in Norway she addressed her advice to female journalists covering conflict zones or reporting on sensitive gender issues.

 

Some of her practical advice: Keep your social media sites clean, never lie:  Keep private items off your public profile; Do not share information that can be used to harm you or your close ones; consider having two Facebook profiles; Be sure that your passwords differ and not contain obvious combinations; Never post that you are about to enter a conflict zone.

 

Participants received hands-on advice about precautions when covering crowded events and demonstrations. Even though this advice can be read in the IAWRT safety handbook for female journalists, Abeer’s advice and examples become somewhat more realistic when demonstrated face-to-face, combined with examples from real life cases.

 

As she often does in her workshops, we were facilitated into role plays, to engage us in realising good and bad practices when interviewing victims of accidents or violence. These exercises give participants good hands-on experience about the ethical responsibility journalists must respect in our sources in vulnerable situations. As explained in the handbook these practices are also a safety measure to protect the mental health of the reporter herself.

With additional funding from UNESCO-Norway, a handbook based on earlier phases of IAWRT’s GMP surveys, research and workshops to identify best practices for gender equality in the media from India and southern Africa is now being written by Greta Gober. In this video, researcher Ann Mabel Sanyu explains the project.

 

The handbook is due to be launched at IAWRT-Norway’s second GMP event IN 2019.

 

Cameroon

End sexual harassment in the media in Cameroon  #PressforProgress  #Metoo  #Hearmetoo #237stopsexualharassment #stopGBV by Becky Bissong

 

Over 50 media women from public and private media enterprises in Cameroon attended a workshop that formed a plan of attack on sexual harassment in their workplaces. 

 

The scope and depth of the problem in newsrooms was outlined by Comfort Mussa, a journalist and activist. With 8 out of 10 women in media saying they had been harassed, it was glaringly clear that it is so prevalent in Cameroon’s media, that it is generally considered “normal”.

 

Comfort regretted the fact that despite those numbers, even media women do not speak out against such gender based violence because of the fear of stigmatisation and ignorance of the law. She noted that the situation was getting worse because of the lack of gender policies in media enterprises.

 

There was extensive discussion on the many overt and covert forms of sexual harassment in newsrooms and its impact on careers through stress and trauma and the labelling of media women who do not give into it. Florence Mvondo Mbezele, from the Ministry of Communication shared information on laws and international conventions, which are available to be used to uphold and protect media women’s human rights. 

 

Media women at the gathering resolved to continue collecting valid data on the extent of the problem, to encourage support networks for women who speak out, and to campaign and work to ensure the development and implementation of gender policies to check sexual harassment and enforce respect for the journalists’ code of ethics in Cameroon.

 

Iraq

Debate: Eliminating Gender Discrimination in Media Binay Shorsh reports from Sulaymaniyah

 

As part of the global 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence Campaign, which began on November 25, the IAWRT Iraq-Kurdistan chapter organized a special seminar on gender equality in media organizations, which debated the status of women in the media and the problems they faced because of their gender. It also highlighted women’s media capabilities for achieving their goals.

 

Prominent women journalists and media reporters in the Kurdistan Region attended at the Hotel Titanic in Sulaymaniyah City in early December. Lava Kurda a spokeswoman for IAWRT-Iraq said, “We have gathered today to participate in dialogue and consultation on achieving equality between women and men in media organizations and to talk about our role as women in achieving equality and renunciation of violence and discrimination, through our work and by demonstrating our competence and ability to work.”

 

According to the discussion, many media women do not support each other, especially when they achieve high positions. Susan Anwar, a journalist, said there needs to be a return to basics before defending media women’s rights, ‘We basically do not understand what our rights are … the majority of women fight them instead of supporting them,” she said.

 

One of the participants, Shna, a teacher and journalist, suggested that women journalists needed to raise awareness about their rights, duties and about what violence is. “I work in Metro Center, unfortunately, women never complain about taking their rights, while only men and young people come to claim their rights.”

 

On the other hand, the journalist Rawshan said: “We have to separate the political and Islamic consciousness and the policies that have been exposed to the Kurdish people throughout history, Kurds have no state of their own; the orientalists who visited Kurdistan spoke admiringly about the role of Kurdish women in the community. To get out of the cycle of Islamic stereotypes and customs and traditions imposed on us, we need to work to support us being strong Kurdish woman and coming out of the framework of customs and traditions imposed on us by other people.”

 

Kenya

One day workshop on digital safety of journalists by Cecilia Maundu 

 

Just because it’s online does not make it any less real. Online gender-based violence has become the order of the day in Kenya. And more often than not people won’t speak about it since it’s regarded as “virtual” hence it’s not “real” violence.

 

But what people forget, or do not know, is that sometimes, online gender-based violence moves from online to offline. Most victims of this vice are women, especially women journalists and women politicians.

 

As the goal of the perpetrators is to silence women, online violence is a symptom of deep-seated gender inequality and is just one more way that women and girls are denied their human rights. It is against this backdrop that I utilised my speciality in gender digital security training to conduct the digital security training session for IAWRT-Kenya. 

The highlight of the training was ‘how to create a feminist internet’, an internet where women don’t feel vulnerable being online. a safe space where women and girls are free to express themselves online without fear of being victimized. And it’s up to all of us and especially women who have a larger platform to advocate for this feminist internet. The training concluded by talking about self-care; how as journalists we should sometimes step away from the internet and take a moment to ourselves.

 

The Kenya chapter will work on engaging media management and policy makers to sensitize media management to the problem of online harassment that journalists face while carrying out their work. It plans to use the media to problematize and publicize the issue of journalist’s digital safety based partly around the forthcoming GMP handbook’s best practice findings.

 

Nepal

 ‘Women’s Sovereignty in Entertainment Programs’ & #MeToo advocacy for media students by Mallika Bhattarai

 

IAWRT Nepal conducted an interactive workshop on how entertainment shows are portraying female characters in mid December which was attended by directors, popular actors, script writers, producers, singers and senior media people.

 

Senior journalist, activist and former Deputy Director of Nepal Television Deepa Gautam presented a research paper on how women are portrayed in recent popular shows and comedies on radio and Television and movies. She found that women are consistently portrayed as weak and stupid, or as an assistant to their male counterpart, who is portrayed in a position of power. Ms Gautam appealed directly to those attending, urging them to be gender sensitive and to spread gender friendly messages and action through the media they work in. 

 

The program was facilitated by Nita Pandit, Chairperson of Sancharika Samuha, (a forum of women communicators, promoting a healthier and gender sensitive media) with Ms Montessori Rajbhandari, President of IAWRT Nepal. A number of those attending made a commitment to greater gender sensitivity on their programs after a lively discussion. We were all overwhelmed by the participants’ responses and it was a moment of pride to be a part of this great event. We hope to continue having such events that have women as the core topic and help in the empowerment of women.

Be Bold for change, be bold to speak up the truth, be bold to bring out your suppressed voice

That was the title of advocacy workshops  for media students on the #MeToo campaign. held at Pentagon College and Green Field College. The aim was to make students aware of this global movement and encourage them to break the silence if they ever have had to face sexual harassment.

 

Kriti Bhattarai, actress, activist, educator and media presenter, explained the history of the campaign. which took off in the United States with accusations of sexual assault against the Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein.

 

In Nepal as well, Keshav Sthapit, a former mayor of Kathmandu and a provincial minister was forced to step down, after being exposed as part of Nepal’s #MeToo movement.

 

More than 100 students participated, and they were very keen to learn more about this movement as they shared their own experiences of facing sexual assaults in schools, temples and on public transport, especially where there are crowds. IAWRT Nepal’s GMP workshops received news coverage on national television

 

 

Philippines 

 Empowering women in Radyo ni Juan Mindanao newsrooms reportage and management under Duterte’s presidency By Lady Ann Salem

 

Women’s issues are people’s issues—and this is why Radyo ni Juan finds it imperative that more news airtime are allocated for women and children in its six broadcasting stations in Mindanao.

 

Such was the major point in the collective unities formed after the three-day training, workshop and impact assessment heldin Davao City from December 7 to 9. Radyo ni Juan’s 41 news directors, reporters, staff, managers and student observers also participated in a plenary and open forum to discuss women, gender and equality issues in its reportage and news planning priorities.

 

Lynda Garcia, Vice President of IAWRT Philippines Chapter, served as the keynote speaker and shared IAWRT and UNESCO’s Gender Mainstreaming Project.  Jola Diones-Mamangun and Grace Uddin, IAWRT member and Radyo ni Juan Network executive vice president were facilitators.

 

Germilina Lacorte, Acting Bureau Chief of Philippine Daily Inquirer Mindanao, spoke about covering women, children and adult issues under the present administration.Mario Maximo ‘Dodong’ Solis, Chief Operating Officer of Radyo ni Juan Network-Philippines, spoke about his experience on being a radio broadcaster and making a stand on people’s issues.

 

A solidarity night was held at the end of the activity; the participants expressed their commitment to good journalism in an unrivalled time of fake news, hate speech and troll proliferation.

 

 

Other Chapter GMP Activities

  • USA: Panel discussion on solutions for change in regards to gender equality in the media
  • India: Sexual harassment prevention in the film industry.
CSW63

Community Media for Disasters Event

The sixty-third session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) will begin at the United Nations Headquarters in New York on March 11, 2019. IAWRT is planning a parallel event.

The CSW Priority theme is – Social protection systems, access to public services and sustainable infrastructure for gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls;

The Review theme for CSW 63 is – Women’s empowerment and the link to sustainable development (agreed conclusions of the sixtieth session).

IAWRT’s planned parallel event, in draft, is Models of Community Media for Disaster Preparedness and Risk Management. It will link to the CSW Priority Theme and the Review Theme by highlighting the role women play in preparing for any disaster; preparing for damages and loss, rebuilding and peace negotiations. More importantly, the event will show how critical community media is to sustainable development and gender equality.

Our UNCSW/International Committee is selecting panelists and discussants for the event  who can highlight the role that women play in preparing for any disaster.  Members with experience in community radio can send in their experience and short bios if interested in participating at the event (contact below)

The draft plan

IAWRT will showcase its Disaster Response Radio (DRR), established with the support of IAWRT-Philippines in  in the wake of the on-going devastation of communities decimated by Typhoon Haiyan (also known as Yolanda) five years ago. IAWRT has already produced a community radio handbook documenting this project and the three-decade history of Philippines community radio, it is available online, Amplifying the People’s Voices: The Philippine Community Radio Experience and Challenges (2018).

The UNCSW/International Committee’s plan is for a gender-based discussion to follow accompanied with a workshop on the important role of various community media in disaster recovery and preparedness. The session will include risk reduction and recovery, including pre-disaster communications for warnings, evacuations and preparedness, and immediate post-disaster instructions for coping and avoiding further injury from damaged infrastructure, and responding to critical community needs.

The plan is for the event to be an interactive hands-on workshop with community media professionals and other stakeholders. Suitable panelists who can highlight the role women play in preparing for disasters and members who have experience in community radio can send in their experience and short bios if interested. Contact is below.   

Objective

The discussion/workshop aims to create awareness of the important role and effectiveness of community media as an empowering medium for saving lives, restoring individual dignity and community cohesion after a disaster. The objective is to act as a call for the strengthening of media infrastructure with governments, NGO’s, and the corporate media sector, to garner support that will allay the impact of environmental catastrophe on people’s lives in the future, thus strengthening community media as critical infrastructure for social development.

IAWRT encourages self funded participation in the UN’s largest gathering which focuses on women. The deadline to Regsiter is 27 January 2019.  NGOs in consultative status with ECOSOC, such as IAWRT, can approve the registration of a limited number of financial IAWRT members.  You must first register indvidually as IAWRT delegates in Indico. CC to IAWRT ([email protected]) which then approves the individual registrations of our representatives. Once your registration has been approved, you will receive a registration approval via email.

click links –  video and step-by-step instructions for the registration process in Indico 

                 –  to register

 

 

IMG_0629 copy

“Ampatuan massacre ninth commemoration has become excruciating”

58 people, 32 of whom were journalists, were killed nine years ago and the Director of the National Union of Journalists – Philippines and IAWRT Philippines member Kath Cortez has lamented the lack of justice over the murders.

Cortez and members of IAWRT Philippines chapter based in Metro Manila joined NUJP’s annual commemoration of the 2015 massacre at the Bantayog ng mga Bayani in Quezon City. Journalists and media workers lit candles for the 58 killed and also to call for justice anew.

Those killed were on their way to a local Commission on Elections office to witness the filing of the certificate of candidacy for then-Buluan vice mayor Esmael Mangudadatu, running against then-incumbent mayor Andal Ampatuan Jr., in Maguindanao province, on the island of Mindanao when they were flagged down, kidnapped then killed by gunmen in Ampatuan town. Their bodies and cars were pused into a mass grave.

The dead included Mangudadatu’s wife, his two sisters, journalists, lawyers, aides, and motorists who were mistakenly identified as part of the convoy. Ther is evidence that the women were subjected to gender-based violence prior to and in the manner of their deaths. 

The Committee to Protect Journalists tagged the Ampatuan massacre as the single deadliest event for journalists ever recorded.

 

Case of the century

“We were told the decision will come out in a month, next month, in another month. We waited and waited, but there’s still no decision. What we want now is not just for a decision to come out now, but for the Ampatuans [family members and supporters] charged to be convicted—this is the call of the victims’ kin,” said NUJP Secretary-General Dabet Panelo.

Panelo shared that the families of the victims said they do not want just a decision, but a conviction of the Ampatuans. The NUJP adopted the call of the families, “Justice Now” and “Convict Ampatuan.”

The Quezon City Regional Trial Court handling the case stated in a briefer that of the 197 accused, 117 were arrested and 80 remain at large. One hundred and four accused remain on trial. Five of the suspects died. Andal Ampatuan Sr., the clan patriarch and alleged mastermind of the massacre died in detention in 2015.

Last November 5, Ampatuan Jr. submitted his formal offer of evidence to wrap up the trial that started in January 2010. The prosecution panel has announced that the case against him is already submitted for decision.

Department of Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra said that the decision is expected early next year. The promulgation date has not yet been set.

 

Challenge for Filipino journalists

Cortez recalled that she was a communication arts student at Notre Dame of Marbel University when the massacre happened.

“Among those who died was a distant relative of mine. We secured the remains all the way from Ampatuan. The bodies recovered were covered with ice. Stench of formalin and Lysol (a disinfectant) filled the air. They were covered with ice and wrapped so that their families, friends and colleagues can hold their funeral and grieve,” recollected Cortez.

Cortez also shared she was among those who volunteered to dig up the bodies of unknown number of victims from the mass graves.

“That experience was enraging. It was the challenge we took up why most of us journalism students who volunteered to dig up the bodies continued and became part of the profession,” shared Cortez.

But even as she hoped the culture of impunity during that time would abate with the arrests of the primary suspects, patriarch and key members of the Ampatuan clan and also then incumbent government officials, she says impunity and lack of accountability of powerful and rich Mindanao families endure up to this day.

“The demand of Mindanao journalists now is an end to impunity, and also end to the implementation of martial law that only furthers this culture of impunity. We journalists from the alternative media in Mindanao witnessed how thousands of civilians, especially indigenous peoples, are forcibly evacuated from their communities every month due to harassment and militarization. The Marawi refugees’ situation is another example of forcible evacuation that martial law has caused,” said Cortez.

Martial Law in the whole of Mindanao island was declared in May 2017, following the siege of Marawi by the Maute clan and ISIS-inspired groups. Residents of Marawi were made to leave their homes and are still unable to return, to this day. Marawi City, a historic Islamic city, has been flattened and many families complained of looting of their homes by both the sides –  the Maute and the military. Even as the government declared Marawi liberated late in 2017, President Rodrigo Duterte pushed for a one-year extension of Martial Law. As the end of the year deadline approaches, various government officials have called for another one-year extension.

IAWRT International Treasurer and Philippines chapter president Jola Diones-Mamangun condemned the snail-paced justice system in the country, even in a case as high profile as the Ampatuan massacre.

“We had 32 colleagues who did not know that they were going to their last coverage, their last task in the profession. While we seek justice for our slain colleagues in Ampatuan, harassments and killings of journalists continue to this day,” said Diones-Mamangun.

The Freedom for Media, Freedom for All network revealed that 12 journalists have been killed under the Duterte administration. The network documented 99 cases of direct and indirect assaults against journalists and media outfits. These include online harassment, libel, slay attempt, verbal threats/assaults, website attack, cyberlibel, arrest, barred from coverage, among others. Nearly half or 44 of the cases involved state agents of public officials, the network said.

“And while it is upsetting that martial law continues in Mindanao, impunity continues its reign, it cannot be said that there is no martial law here in Manila. This situation is detrimental to our work and to the basic freedoms of the people. This is why we call on our colleagues to join us in the call for justice, call for end to martial law, call for an end to impunity,” said Diones-Mamangun.

Binay_Shorsh

Sulaymaniyah, Iraq – Kurdistan

Radio Nawa 

editor, journalist, administrative officer

What type of projects do you do?

I am a news journalist and sub-editor for Nawa radio and website. I am interested in creating features and short videos because it can often have a rapid effect on society.  I write articles about freedom of expression, supporting women and children and human rights I also critique social ideas which cause harm, like my video and report on honor murders in Iraq.  I like to share awareness in the community to tell women that they are powerful, and they can reach for their dreams. I want all people to live with peace and love. In the future, I want to organize community projects especially for women.

Why did media work interest you, and how did you get started?

I am interested in this field because there are so many women victims, who do not know their rights, they are accepting many kinds of violence, and society needs to accept its responsibility for the increasing numbers of female victims.

Day after day, we hear that a woman has committed suicide or was killed by her family because the society did not accept them making their own decisions. So, they leave school, they choose to be alone, they do not try to learn, and at the end, they accept violence.

The only solution for these problems is to spread awareness in the community, I am focusing on victims, I am pointing to those who are responsible for violence, sometimes I prepare a report about a murder case or I create a video about violence. I want to tell people to choose humanity and love instead of hate and violence.

And sometimes I organize a visit to the mental hospital to meet girls who tried to commit suicide, to know the reason and try to help them

What part of this job do you personally find most satisfying? Most challenging?

It makes me happy when someone reads my article and tells me that it was helpful, and it helped to face their problems. But the biggest challenge is to convince women that they have rights, and they must fight for them.  The hardest part is to locate victims, when I do, I try to tell them they do not have to feel shame because they are the victim, not the guilty. It is very hard for me to convince females to not accept violence – I want them to break their silence and face it, and stand up for their rights; Because of the culture, it is very hard to convince society to stop treating females as weak creatures and to stop violence against them.

What do you like and not like about working in this industry?

I like working for women: to tell them that they are powerful, that they have rights to fight for, when I can help someone in a bad situation, it makes me feel blessed.

The worse thing that I am facing is my society. It does not want an open-eyed girl, they want a girl to do what their family wants, even if it is not what the girl wants. It is hard in some case when you tell a woman about her rights and she denies that. As well, when I am looking for the truth of a case it is very hard to establish what is true and what is false.

My strongest assets/skills, areas of knowledge, personality traits and values are….

I like to act as I am. I am a normal person with a free soul, I love everyone, and I want to live in peace with love. I like to motivate people, I have writing and speaking skills to connect to an audience on important social subjects.  I like to communicate with people.

Has IAWRT’s network of media women around the world helped or inspired you?

The IAWRT network helped me a lot and inspired me to keep going and reach for my goals, and it makes me happy to know and communicate with people that care about women, and share our story around the world

What are your long-term goals?

My goals are to support women in reaching their dreams and to teach them it is okay to fall because they can stand up again. I want to work for a decrease in the suicide and murder rates of women in Iraq.

What special advice do you have for young women seeking to qualify for this type of work?

I am advising them to work in the media field as it is very important to connect with more people and support other women and inspire them to stand on their feet. Also, they can be connected with international news as it is very important to know about the outside world.

Do you have any special words of warning, or encouragement, because of your experience?

First, women must make their safety their top priority, and they must be ready for every response. They must read up on safety principles of the work and deal with it, I want to support them and tell them ‘you are strong, do not give up, face your fears, and publish the truth.’

links to some of Binay’s work which are available online (in Kurdish Language except IAWRT feature) 

article is about how to feel life, living is not enough we must feel it

talking about how to be proud of our pain and to not hide it

article about people wanting baby boys more than girls and how it should stop

IAWRT web feature on honor murders (in English)

article about IAWRT Uganda conference

News for the radio’s site that I work at:

https://www.radionawa.com/Ku/all-detail.aspx?jimare=10576

https://www.radionawa.com/Ku/all-detail.aspx?jimare=10381

https://www.radionawa.com/Ku/all-detail.aspx?jimare=10288

https://www.radionawa.com/Ku/all-detail.aspx?jimare=10229

https://www.radionawa.com/Ku/all-detail.aspx?jimare=10148

https://www.radionawa.com/Ku/all-detail.aspx?jimare=11286

https://www.radionawa.com/Ku/all-detail.aspx?jimare=11283

https://www.radionawa.com/Ku/all-detail.aspx?Jimare=11170

Also I write my ideas in my social accounts … Facebook – Binay Shorsh

 

Journalism Education and Research Association of Australia (JERAA) 2018 conference, Hobart, December 3-5.

IAWRT’s Safety handbook will launched during a panel session From self-protection to advocacy & action: advancing the safety of women journalists.

Panelists are Dr Fiona Martin, Sydney University on digital safety strategies for women journalists, Dr Andrea Baler from Monsah University on #Metoo in music industry media, Dr Cait McMahon, DART Centre for for journalism and trauma, Asia Pacific on responses to violence and IAWRT webjournalist Nonee Walsh and Abeer Saady by Skype. 

The handbook will also be later presented in the academic journal, Australian Journalism Review, which is producing Safety of Journalists issue.

2 December 2018 (16th Mangsir 2075)
 

The 15th IAWRT Asian Women’s Film Festival will be held from 5th – 7th March, 2019. in New Delhi.

 IAWRT India organizes this unique Asian women’s film festival each year to mark International Women’s Day.

Launched in 2005, the IAWRT film festival has over the years positioned itself with a conscious effort to showcase narratives weaved by Asian women filmmakers and grown in strength and reputation, with participation from around the world. Entries for the film section have closed, but the sound technology section of the Festival s o u n d p h i l e s | 2019 will receive entries ntil December 20th, 2018. details here.